


Casfish

by crowleyhasfeels



Category: Catfish: The TV Show, Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-10
Updated: 2016-06-24
Packaged: 2018-07-14 07:28:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7160018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crowleyhasfeels/pseuds/crowleyhasfeels
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean has been talking to a mysterious guy online for over a year. After trying to meet many times and being shot down, Charlie decides to step in and take matters into her own hands. What does she do? She decides to contact the MTV show Catfish and have them track down the mysterious man. It is time for Dean to meet the man he loves or get the chance to move on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. There Is Always An Excuse

**ToBeeHoneyst:** _I should probably get going. It is getting late._

 **Impala67:** _C.J. Wait!_

Dean knows the answer; he always knows the answer. He met C.J. in a chatroom a little over a year ago and he still refused to meet Dean in person. If C.J. was being honest with him, which seemed unlikely at this point, he would be willing to meet him. They went to the same school, they loved the same things and they talked for hours. If C.J. cared anything at all about Dean, he would be jumping at the chance to meet him, to be with him finally. But the answer was always no. Dean could not even look the boy up because he did not know his name, other than it probably started with a C and that he was a guy. Dean had talked him into sending him a nude picture once, but the boy’s face was not in it. Dean did not think about it at the time but now he feels that it was probably just some naked guy C.J. found a picture of on the internet. Dean knows he needs to get out of this situation but he is so far in love that he is incapable of making good decisions for himself.

 **ToBeeHoneyst:** _Okay?_

Dean looks up, realizing that he had not responded to C.J. for the past five minutes.

 **Impala67:** _Graduation is tomorrow._

 **ToBeeHoneyst** : Yes, it is.

 **Impala67:** _Meet Me. Before or After. I don’t care which_.

 **ToBeeHoneyst** : _Dean …_

 **Impala67:** _You don’t have to answer me right now. Please, just think about it. I love you and I want to be able to tell you that in person. Please._

 **ToBeeHoneyst:** _Goodnight, Dean._

 **Impala67:** _Goodnight._

Dean logs off of the computer and makes his way down to the kitchen. Sam, his younger brother and Charlie, his adopted little sister were having some sort of argument over ice cream flavors. This is a common thing in their house, them arguing and Dean being the tiebreaker. Most of the time he sides with Charlie, because she is his best friend and he likes to see his little brother pout that he is being unfair, but sometimes Sam makes the better argument.

“Dean,” Charlie looks up at him with a silent pleading in her eyes. Dean hates when she does that. She knows just how to get her way with him. “Please tell Sam here, that Rocky Road is the best flavor of ice cream.”

“I can’t,” Dean smiles, leaning himself against the counter. “I am a mint chocolate chip man, one hundred percent.”

“Thank you,” Sam smiles at his obvious win. This tells Dean that Sam has already been fighting on the side of mint chocolate chip. It is a Winchester thing Dean assumes, considering that it is their father’s favorite ice cream as well.

“You both have incredibly bad taste,” Charlie leans back in her chair and crosses her arms over her chest. She has never been good when it comes to losing.

"Ya ain’t kidding,” Dean frowns, looking down at his feet. His entire house knows about C.J. and the way that he feels about him. It makes him feel like a fool, having no way to prove that C.J. is even a real person. Moron, that is a better word to describe what he is.

“Oh, my poor king,” Charlie gets up from the chair and makes her way over to Dean, putting an arm around his waist and standing next to him at the counter. When Charlie was ten, her parents died in a car accident. Dean’s parents, being the closest thing she had to family, adopted her without question. Charlie lost herself in make believe and eventually got Dean into LARPing. That is when she started calling Dean, her king and he started calling her, Queen C. “So C.J. refused to meet you again?”

“He has not answered me this time,” Dean leads Charlie back over to the table and they sit down. “But it is only a matter of time before he messages me some bullshit excuse.”

“You should just tell him you are done and move on.” That is always Sam’s reaction. Normally, Dean would defend C.J. but he no longer has it in him. Sam is right this time but that does not change anything. Dean is still in love with C.J. and can not just walk away from that. Can he?

____

 **[Friday 7:43 a.m. | C.J.]** _I am so sorry, Dean. I cannot do this today._

 **[Friday 8:02 a.m. | C.J.]** _Maybe someday but I am not ready._

 **[Friday 9:00 a.m. | C.J.]** _If you want to stop speaking to me, I will understand._

Dean wakes up to his phone alert sound. Before even checking it, he knows what he is going to see. It is going to be some bullshit excuse as to why he can not bring himself to meet Dean. Dean is at the end of his rope.

 **[Friday 9:12 a.m. | You]** _Why is meeting me so hard?_

Dean can not understand why someone would not want to meet. After a year of talking and telling each other that you are in love, why not meet them? What was so wrong with Dean that C.J. could not just let them be together?

 **[Friday 9:20 a.m. | You]** _You say you love me but if you loved me, you would want to meet me._

 **[Friday 9:27 a.m. | C.J.]** _I cannot make you understand why I cannot do this. I do not want to lose you but I am also not ready to meet you. Goodbye Dean._

Dean fights back the tears that he knows are going to fall sooner or later. He has a long day ahead of him and he can cry later. As of right now, his family is arriving and he has to put on a good show. He does not have to be happy, he just has to look it.

_____

Graduation is long and boring. Sure, Dean is proud of himself for actually doing it but his heart is just not in it. What did he have to show for High School besides a stupid diploma? He had been popular and played on the football team but he is not good enough to earn a scholarship to college for it. He was attractive, but he was gay and the only person he ever loved did not want to meet him. He is graduating High School with no scholarships and a virgin. He still plans on attending college and playing football, he just has to do it on his own and with his parent’s money. None of this made him anything special.

 **[Friday 7:45 p.m. | Charlie]** _I have an idea. Meet me in the tree house._

Dean smiles down at the message. The party for their graduation is just as boring as graduation itself. They have family that came in from out of state to celebrate, which just turned into any family event. Everyone is drinking and arguing about stupid shit. It is not the kind of arguing that people expect, it is all in good family fun, but still, it is not really what Dean is interested in at the moment.

Quietly making his escape, Dean sneaks his way out back and then climbs the rickety ladder and enters the tree house. Dean’s dad had built it when they were kids. It is not built for them now, but that does not stop them from hanging out in it from time to time. When Dean arrives, Sam and Charlie are sitting on their bean bags sharing a cake between them.

“You stole the cake?” Dean asks, sitting himself down into his oversized bean bag. He is surprised this thing could hold them. “Was this your idea?”

“Nope,” Charlie hands Dean a fork and he happily accepts it and takes a giant scoop for himself. He prefers pie but he can not refuse cake, even if he wants to. “This is just a warm up idea.”

“She has lost her mind by the way,” Sam laughs, cake almost falling out of his mouth. “She hit the mother lode with this one.”

“Well I am all ears,” Dean leans back and begins to work on the giant piece of cake he is now holding in his hand. Hands were the perfect substitute for plates, considering that they were the first plates.

“Catfish,” Charlie says the word as if it was supposed to mean something to him.

“Catfish?” Dean raises his eyebrow at her, agreeing with Sam that she has in fact lost it this time.

“Yes, Catfish,” She shakes her head at him and sits herself up on her bean bag. “You know, the television show on MTV.”

“The one where the guys track down people that other people have been talking to?” And then it hits Dean. She is suggesting that he contacts Catfish about C.J. It is the dumbest thing that he has ever heard but also kind of brilliant. Not that they would ever pick him for the show but it seems like it could be a valid option. Does he want to know that bad?

“You don’t get a choice really,” Charlie shrugs her shoulders at him. “I already wrote them. I just wanted to let you know that I had an idea and that I rolled with it.”

“You did what?” Dean drops what is left of the cake in his hand and moves to stand up, stopping when he realizes that there really is not enough room to do so.

“They said that you will be hearing from them on Sunday at one,” She smiles over at him. “So you need to be on Skype by twelve fifty.”

And that is that. Dean tries to argue but Charlie will not let him. So Sunday at one, Dean is going to be on Catfish. He is finally going to meet C.J. He is nervous about being on television in order to meet someone, but if this is his only option, he is going to take it, nerves or not.


	2. Season  6, Episode 1

"Nev and Max here with a new episode of Catfish,” Nev says into the Camera, Max sitting by his side, holding his own handheld camera. There are always so many cameras around them but that is how they catch all of the good stuff.

“Did you even shave today?” Max chimes in, holding his camera in Nev’s face.

“I am growing a beard,” Nev informs him. His tone is hard to read, making it hard to tell if he is joking or being truly serious about it. Nev is sure he could pull off a beard if he wants to.

“Should I also grow a beard?” Max feels the need to join in, though both of them know that he is not going to grow anything. Stubble is one thing but a full out beard is not really a Max Joseph special.

“We should have a competition,” Nev suggests, causing Max to sigh. Now people are going to want to watch them compete and see who can grow the best beard and Nev is certain he is not going to back down.

“How about we get to the poor soul in need of our help,” Nev laughs at Max’s effective change in subject.

“Let’s see what we have here,” Nev turns his attention to his laptop, pulling up the email that he has been told to select. The email reads as follows.

_ Hey boys of Catfish. My name is Charlie and as awesome as I am, I am not writing on behalf of myself. I am actually writing about my brother and best friend, Dean. For over a year now, Dean has been talking with a guy named C.J., online. C.J. says that he attends the same High School as us. However, he has not shared anything more to prove who he really is. He has not even sent a picture, aside from one nude photo that did not even show his face, so it was probably not him anyways. The problem here is simple. This guy does not appear to be who he says he is, but Dean is in love with him and just can’t seem to let him go. Dean is starting college after the summer and he deserves to live a normal college life, with dating and all that fun stuff, but I know he will not be able to do all of this if he is holding onto this C.J. person. Please help a desperate sister protect her big brother. _

_ -Charlie_

" So already this is pretty shady,” Max concludes off of the email they have received. Generally, when someone refuses to show a photo, lives within miles, and refuses to meet, they are not who they say they were. It also tends to be someone that the person knows, in one way or another. This is not always the case but that seems to be the trend. 

"Let’s talk to Charlie,” Nev suggests, pulling up Skype and sending a call through. When it is answered, there are two people, a redhead with a smile plastered to her face and a man with light brown hair and stubble that suggests he also needs a shave.

“Hey,” the girl calls out, who Nev automatically assumes is Charlie. “This is super exciting. I can’t believe you guys are talking to us.”

“Well your story was rather intriguing.” Nev informs her, though even with it being intriguing, it really is not up to him or Max what stories they select. They are just told which email to open and they go from there. In fact, the producers of the show already know what the outcome is going to be, at least as far as who the other person is. Nev and Max are kept in the dark however, so they can be just as surprised and authentic as the person being Catfished. “We were wanting to hear more about it.”

“Is that Dean?” Max inquires about the mysterious guy sitting next to Charlie.

Dean waves his hand up at them but does not speak. Nev can tell by the look on his face that he is not sure about this and probably a little embarrassed. Their show is great at bringing people together but it also is broadcast on television. All your mistakes get to come into the light and be shown to the world. People who watch the show will forever know Dean’s name and the story of his catfish.

“So we read the email and we are definitely intrigued enough to take the case,” Nev turns the focus away from Dean. He is going to give him a little more time to let all of this sink in. “We can hop a plane in the morning and be in Kansas if you would like our help.”

“Yeah man,” Dean finally speaks, sitting up and running his hand down the front of his face. “I am desperate for answers at this point and need all the help I can get."

“We will see you both tomorrow,” Nev waves at the screen. This is an action that used to feel funny to him but now talking to people through the computer is such a major part of his life that it is normal. Technology really is changing the world.

_____

“Is it this house,” Max asks, looking at the GPS unit in the car, as well as the address. They are in a very nice part of town, with houses that make Nev believe that this family has money.

“This is the one,” he confirms as they pull into the driveway. This is always Nev’s favorite part. They are going to get the full story, well they assume they are going to get the full story. There have been many times when they had to come back and get more information about something because the original person was not completely upfront and honest with them.

Nev and Max make their way out of the car, making witty banter as they approach the front door. The audience always assumes that it is to humor them and make them laugh, however, this is just the way that they are with each other. Though Max originally started off as a friend of Nev’s older brother, the two of them have become almost inseparable since the show first aired.

“Here we go,” Nev smiles into Max’s camera as he knocks on the door. It takes a few minutes but soon the door swings open to reveal Dean. Nev assumes that Charlie is going to take the lead on everything but he is glad that Dean is showing initiative. That means he really wants to do this and that makes their job that much easier.

“Good morning,” Nev greets him.

“Morning,” Dean smiles at both of them. He pushes the screen door open and motions for them to come inside.

Once inside, Nev can tell two things about the family. They are big into football and they support the military. Someone, or even multiple someone’s in the family has probably served at one point, it they are not currently serving. The walls are covered in sports memorabilia and war memorabilia. They are very proud of both their country and their sports teams. Nev cannot tell which team it is that they support though, not without getting a better look. 

They do their introductions and Charlie joins them, as well as a tall boy who they find out is Dean’s younger brother, Sam. Sam and Charlie seem to be incredibly worried for their brother and just wanted him to be happy.. When people have to go through the Catfish process alone, sometimes it can be harder than it needs to be. Support was always appreciated by the show. 

“So tell us everything,” Nev sits down across from Dean, ready to get the full story. There are always things missed that Nev has to get out through questioning, so this process tends to take a long time, even though on air, it is one of the shorter parts.

“Well, I met C.J. in a chatroom for local LGBT high schoolers.” Dean admits. “At first I was okay with him not giving me a real name. Admitting that you are gay to people you don’t even know and letting them know who you really are can be scary.”

“Did he message you or did you message him?” Max questions, working for more information.

“I messaged him first,” Dean answers. “We both chatted openly in the chatroom together for a couple of weeks and then I decided that I wanted to really get to know him. He seemed to have the same interests as me. After that, we talked every day. I mean for the last year we have talked everyday for hours. When we aren’t online, we are texting and if we are not texting, we are on the phone with each other.”

“So you have talked to him on the phone?” Nev smiles, this was a good sign. They can almost then conclude that he is in fact male, but then again, still could be a woman. They have met some pretty deep voiced women.

“Yeah,” Dean nods. He is keeping a rather straight face and Nev is not sure what to think about that.

“Does he seem like who he says he is on the phone?” Max wonders. “Like, does he sound like a teenage boy.”

“Yes and no,” Dean sighs, leaning back in his chair. “He has a pretty deep voice but it also kind of cracks a lot. He says that he hates it.”

“So it is possible that he is older than he says he is,” Nev more states than askes. “But then again, he could just have a deep voice.”

“Yeah,” Dean nods again. He is not very good at this.

“You don’t recognize his voice from anywhere else?” Nev asks. “Like you don’t remember hearing it in school or anything?”

“Dean is pretty oblivious at school,” Charlie laughs, taking over for a bit. “If he is not focused on football, he is pretty much not focused on anything.”

“So you haven’t tried to track down a C.J. at school?” Nev comes at Dean with more questions.

“Oh, I have.” Dean nods. “There are about forty students in the senior class alone who have first names starting with C and no one seems to know anyone who goes by the name C.J.”

They question Dean and Charlie a little longer, getting all of the information that they can, before saying their goodbyes. They ask Dean to email them with every piece of information that he has on C.J. and they will be back in contact with him in the morning once they did a bit of digging.

“See ya,” Dean waves at them as he closes the door.

“Let’s see if we can find this mystery high school student,” Max laughs as they made their way to the car. “And the games begin.”


	3. Left Out of the Loop

“That was uncomfortable,” Dean tosses himself down onto the couch next to Charlie and Sam. He never has been good at having conversations with strangers, which makes the fact that he is so close with C.J. a little weird. That is what caused Dean to fall in love with him in the first place. For some reason, he just wants to tell C.J. things; things he never even dreamed about telling other people.

“I thought it was pretty cool,” Charlie is still overly excited. She watches Catfish all the time, yelling at the screen, telling people how stupid they are. Dean is shocked that she did not call him stupid as well. She is probably thinking it but cares too much about him to say it out loud. “We actually got to meet Nev and Max of Catfish. If I was not gay, I would have hit on them so hard.”

“When has being gay caused you to stop from hitting on someone?” Sam asks, moving himself away to avoid being punched in the arm but he is too slow.

“Never,” Charlie finally gives in, knowing that Sam is telling the truth. If they gave an award for it in high school, Charlie would be voted ‘most likely to hit on you’. She meant well though. She has a thing for people and always goes out of her way to make people feel special and loved, even if her way of doing it is by hitting on people. “That is not the point. The point is that we are going to get to meet Dean’s mystery man and finally let him move on.”

“Thanks,” Dean pulls himself off of the couch and heads toward the hallway. “Glad to know you all have faith in the outcome of this.”

“That is not what I meant,” Charlie tries to defend herself but Dean is already headed down the hall and into his room. He knows that they all have a right to feel this way but that does not change one fact: Dean is in love with C.J. When you are in love with someone, you give them the benefit of the doubt.

Sitting down at his computer, Dean logs himself into instant messenger. He tells himself that he is not going to talk to C.J. for a while, not until they figure all of this out, but he needs to talk to someone and C.J. is always his first choice for that.

**Impala67** :  _ You around? _

It shows that C.J. is logged on but that does not always mean that he is available. He is usually logged in on his phone or his tablet and he does not always have it on his person. He tries to log out when he is not going to be around but if the app is not open, he sometimes forgets about it.

**ToBeeHoneyst** :  _ Of course. Good afternoon, Dean. _

**Impala67** :  _ Hey. How are you? _

**ToBeeHoneyst** :  _ Not the best, but you know that by now. _

**Impala67** :  _ What is that supposed to mean? _

**ToBeeHoneyst** :  _ Catfish? You contacted Catfish? _

Dean stars at the screen confused. He has not mentioned Catfish to C.J. Have Nev and Max been in contact with him and now he is angry? Dean hopes that he is not angry, that is the last thing that he wants from all of this. He just wants answers. Though in his defense, this had not been his idea to begin with.

**Impala67** :  _ I just want to meet you. Can you really blame me for that? _

**Impala67** :  _ I will tell them never mind then. If you don’t want to meet me that bad, I will tell them to go away and you will never have to hear from me again. _

**ToBeeHoneyst** :  _ No. Let them film their show. I have to play along. I signed a contract with them. _

**Impala67** :  _ So they knew who you were when they were here? _

**ToBeeHoneyst** :  _ Everyone except for Nev and Max. At least, that is what I was told. They are pretty much where you are. _

**Impala67** :  _ This is stupid. This whole fucking thing is stupid. _

Dean quickly logs off of the computer and takes a deep breath. He has a temper and is known for throwing things but the last thing he needs to break is his laptop. They all know who he is and they won’t tell him. C.J. knows they are going to meet and he still won’t tell him who he is. This is not some game. This is Dean’s life and his heart and everyone is messing with it. If they want a show, he will give them a show, but then it is over. He is done.


	4. The Findings

“Okay, so we don’t have a lot to go off of,” Nev and Max take a seat at a table in the back of some local coffee shop. They had got their teas and their muffins and they were ready to jump in, but there was not enough to warrant that there would be any water in which to land in.

“No,” Max agrees, taking a small sip of his tea. “We have a username, a possible name made from initials and a phone number.”

“Let’s just put the username into a search,” Nev opens up his laptop and connects it to the coffee shop Wi-Fi. “It is possible that he has used it for other things.”

Nev enters ToBeeHoneyst into the search bar and not surprisingly, there is nothing. No results found at all. First dead end has been met.

“Well doing a search for C.J. is going to be pretty pointless,” Nev laughs to himself. That ill bring up more pages than they have time for and more than likely, not a single one would have anything to do with the guy they are looking for. “So let’s do a reverse number search.”

Nev enters the phone number that Dean has given him into the search and … match found.

“Yes,” Max cries out, quietly of course, they are still inside of a coffee shop and do not want to completely disturb the customers. Though they are probably already curious or bothered by all of the cameras and crew that are packed inside. “And look the name starts with a C.”

“Carver Edlund,” Nev reads the name aloud. “So this guy’s name is Carver.”

“Let’s look up Carver on Facebook,” Max suggests, though that was going to be their first course of action anyways.

Max enters the name Carver Edlund into Facebook and they have a hit. Carver Edlund of Lawrence, Kansas. This iss not what they were hoping for. This man is definitely not a high school student. He is in his late thirties and a fiction novelist. Not only is he not a high school student, he is married, though it did not list who he is married to.

“This looks like a page for him as a writer and less for him as a person.” Max points out, pointing to the number of followers he has. “Two thousand sixty-seven followers. Definitely not a personal page.”

“There does not seem to be much more information on him than that. Does not mention who he is married to or much about his life at all.” Nev clickes around his profile page. “Let’s do a Google search on the name.”

Entering his name into Google produces better results. Carver Edlund is the author of a book series called Supernatural. It is about two brothers who travel around the country fighting the monsters that go bump in the night. He has no other works and his books do not seem to be that popular. Nev and Max have never heard of them either.

Outside of his novels, Carver is married to a woman named Becky and together, the two of them have three children. The names and ages of the children are not listed anywhere that they can find.

“I think we have all that we need for now,” Nev closes his computer and looks to Max. “I think we need to let Dean know what we found.”

_____

The next morning, Nev and Max arrive at Dean’s house, dreading the news they are going to have to deliver. They give bad news to people all of the time but that never seems to make it easier. The look of hurt that people get in their eyes is always heart breaking. Though this show is supposed to help people learn the truth and find closure, the biggest emotion this show produces for the percipients is pain.

“Good morning,” Nev smiles at Dean as he let them into the house. This time it is only him that is around.

“Morning,” Dean smiles at them both, motioning for them to sit down on the couch.

“I am guessing you want us to just get to it,” Nev can tell by the look in Dean’s eyes. Dean was not even really into all of this from the beginning. Trying to make small talk and drag it out longer than it needed to is not what he wants.

“That is why you are here,” Dean throws back at Nev, confirming his suspicion of who Dean is and what he needs from this.

“Well we could not get a lot of information with the username,” Max gives him the rundown of what they have done. “Sometimes when people use a username one place, they use it multiple places, but that was a dead end.”

“We did however get a hit off of the phone number,” Nev tries to sound positive. At least they are not one hundred percent empty handed arriving here today. “Do you happen to know anyone by the name of Carver Edlund?”

“The writer?” Dean sits up quickly but remains on the couch. “Carver Edlund, the writer?”

“So you have heard of him?” Nev gives Max a side glance.

“Yeah,” Dean sinks into himself, taking in all of the information that is being given to him. “He subs at our school sometimes for the English teachers. That is who I have been talking to?”

“We don’t know for sure,” Nev holds out his hand. Though they are not certain Carver is the man on the other end of the line, what information they have seems to point to that conclusion. “But so far, that is where we have been lead.”

“Carver is, like, old,” Dean seems like he is going to start hyperventilating. “Not like really old but at least old enough to be my dad, old.”

“Are you still wanting to go through with this?” Max asks Dean. He can obviously see what Nev is seeing. Dean looks like he is about to go into a full blown panic attack. They do not want to force him into doing anything that is too much for him to do, that is not why they are here.

“Yeah,” Dean sits back against the couch. “I need to finish this.”

“Okay,” Nev gets up from the couch. “I will go make the call.”

Nev excuses himself to the front of the house and pulls out his cell phone. There is so much wrong with this picture. Not only is this guy much older than Dean, Dean is no longer a minor, but he was when they had first started chatting. This could get Carver into some serious trouble. It is possible that he will not want to do this. He dials anyway.

**Caller** :  _ Hello? _

**Nev** :  _ Yeah, is this C.J.? _

**Caller** :  _ Yeah, this is C.J. _

**Nev** :  _ Hey, this is Nev. I am from the MTV show Catfish. _

**C.J.:** _Okay._

**Nev:** _Have you heard of the show?_

**C.J.:** _Yes, I have._

**Nev** :  _ So you know why I am calling then? _

**C.J** .:  _ Yes. This is because of Dean. _

**Nev** :  _ So you are aware that Dean wants to meet you? _

**C.J** .:  _ Yes. _

**Nev** :  _ Are you willing to meet him? He really needs this. _

**C.J.:** _I am not ready. I have told him that many times but I will do it._

**Nev:** _Great. Why don’t you text us the address of where we are going to meet and a time that will work best for you._

**C.J.:** _Okay._

Nev ends the phone call and makes his way back inside. Max is talking to Dean about football. Dean plans to go to college and play football. Though he did not get the scholarship he was hoping for, that did not mean that he is not still going to try. He has decent enough grades and even if football does not work out, he is going to try and make something out of himself. 

“So he agreed to meet,” Nev sits himself back down on the couch. “I am just waiting for him to tell me when and where.”

Like C.J. had read his mind, a text message comes through Nev’s phone.

**[Thursday 9:53 a.m. | C.J.]** _Can you meet at 2p.m. at The Roosevelt Fountain in South Park?_

“Can we meet at two p.m.” Nev reads the text message aloud to Nev and Dean. “He wants to meet at the Roosevelt Fountain at South Park.”

“That is not that far from here,” Dean confirms that it is in fact a place. “I am available all day.”

“So two p.m. it is,” Max nods with a smile.

“Yeah,” Dean tries to smile but Nev can tell that it is forced. In only a few hours, the last year of Dean’s life is either going to come together or fall completely apart. Two p.m. is not a happy time to be looking forward to.


	5. The Big Reveal Scene

Nev and Max leave to give Dean time to get ready. He is not sure what he needs to do with himself. Does he want to shower and look nice for this guy who has been playing with his heart for the past year? Carver is a teacher, well a substitute teacher, and he has made Dean fall in love with him. What bothers Dean more are the conversations they have with each other. Not only do they talk about normal things, they talk about things, that at times, get dirty. He has been having dirty conversations with an older man on the internet. How fucking cliché is his life?

Dean finally decides on a shower. Not for Carver but for himself. He can present himself in a nice fashion, he is on camera after all. He does not need to look like a dirty slob, though that is how he spends the majority of his summers. He showers, but basketball shorts and t-shirts are pretty much his life this time of year.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?” Charlie asks Dean as she watches him do his hair in the mirror. “I can beat him up if things get out of control.”

“That is exactly why I don’t want you to go,” Dean can not help but laugh. Though Charlie will not just randomly attack someone, Dean knows the girl can hold her own. Someone had been picking on Sammy a few years back and Charlie jumped them. No one has picked on Sammy since. She was very proud of herself for that and to be honest, Dean is proud of her as well.

“You promise to tell me everything?” she follows up. She knows that he will, outside of C.J. or Carver, Charlie is the person who knows the most about Dean. Sam is close behind but he is still a little young to know everything that Dean needs to talk about.

“I promise,” Dean pulls her into a hug and then holds himself back from her. “Do I look okay.”

“You look amazeballs,” Charlie winks at him and then uses her hands to make a fashion camera. Dean strikes a couple of poses before there is a knock at the door. “Go get ‘em.”

_____

The drive to the park only takes a few minutes but it feels like hours have passed by. Dean knows that he wants to do this, or needs to do this, but he is still scared as hell. The man that he has been in love with is possibly this old guy. What is Dean supposed to do with that information? This can end up being the reason that he has kept himself hidden. He is scared that Dean will leave if he knows the truth. Is Dean going to leave or give him a chance?

“Shit,” Dean whispers under his breath. His mind is running a million miles a minute. Of course he is not going to give this guy the time of day after this. He is old and has lied to Dean for the past year. If he is not a teenager, then everything that he has told Dean is a lie.

“On the bright side,” Max tries to cheer Dean up but it is not working. “You will no longer have to wonder about the truth after this.”

“Yeah,” Dean nods, looking around at the cameras that are in the car. The entire world is going to watch his heart break into a million pieces on television.

_____

“It is 2:02,” Nev checks his watch. “We will give him some time.”

“Is that him?” Max points toward the parking lot as a white car pulls into a parking spot. Dean knows the car. He has seen it at school many times. He has seen it more times than Carver has subbed there.

“Someone is getting out and headed this way,” Nev confirms. Dean watches until the mystery man is in eye shot and his heart all but stops. It’s Castiel Novak.

“C.J.?” Nev holds out his hand to shake Castiel’s.

“Yeah,” Castiel takes his hand but Dean can tell that he is just as nervous as Dean is.

“And your real name is?” Max asks.

“Castiel,” Dean answers for him.

“Hello, Dean.” Castiel pulls his hand away from shaking Max’s and shoves his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

“So you two know each other?” Nev questions.

“Yeah,” Dean answers. “We know each other.”

Dean looks Castiel over, so many questions running through his mind. Why has Castiel hid who he is from Dean. They have known each other since they were in kindergarten. What is he trying to hide? Is this all a game and that is why he did not share who he is?

“I just...,” Castiel starts to explain himself but then gets quiet.

“How about we give you guys a few minutes to talk,” Nev suggests.

Though there are still camera’s around them, Nev, Max and the crew step away, leaving them alone with one another. Dean sits himself down on a nearby park bench, trying to find out exactly what is happening?

“Who is Carver Edlund to you?” Dean finally asks. Castiel is obviously confused by the question by the look on his face.

“He’s my uh…” Castiel pauses, running his hands up and down his thighs. “He’s my dad.”

“Oh,” Dean smiles, unable to hold it back. “That makes sense now.”

“Why would you want to know about my dad?” Castiel questions Dean.

“That is who we thought you were,” Dean laughs, slightly embarrassed that he actually considered what he would do had it been Carver Edlund. “Your phone number traced back to him.”

“Oh,” Castiel laughs, the tension he is showing slowly fading away. This helps make Dean become slightly more comfortable.

“So,” Dean runs his hand through his hair. “Why exactly did you not want to meet me?”

“I didn’t think you would like who I was,” Castiel admits, the tension coming back. Dean wants him to be comfortable but he can not change how Castiel feels. “That you would no longer love me if you knew it was me.”

“Why would you think that?” Dean is confused. Does he seem so shallow that he could not love Castiel? There is nothing about Castiel that would cause Dean to not want to be with him.

“Third grade,” Castiel states, leaving Dean even more confused.

“What?” Dean does not even try to figure out what Castiel means.

“In third grade,” Castiel’s body tenses a little more and that worries Dean. “I was walking home from school and passed you and some of your friends, Gordon and some other boy. I said hi to you and you ignored me.”

“I don’t,” Dean is going to lie but he remembers the event clearly, it is one he has not thought about in years. It does not end with him in good lighting.

“When I was walking away,” Castiel continues, “you said. ‘Don’t ever talk to me again freak.’”

Dean’s mouth turns into a frown and his heart sinks. He remembers saying the words. He had wanted so badly to hang out with Gordon that he was willing to do or say anything that he was told. When Castiel tried to talk to him, Gordon asked ‘why would you let that freak talk to you?’ Dean made a mistake, never knowing that it was going to follow him for so long.

“I am so sorry,” Dean tries to apologize, but how do you apologize for something like that?

“I am not angry at you Dean,” Castiel tries his hardest to reassure Dean but Dean knows that he is an ass and this is not something someone can just overlook. “I just thought that if you knew it was me, you would make me go away again. So I hid who I was, so I wouldn’t have to lose you.”

“You would not have lost me.” Dean promises and it’s true. Dean is head over heels in love and he would not have cared who Castiel wis. Okay, so he would have been freaked out if it was Castiel’s dad but beyond that, he would not have cared. “I love you Cas.”

Castiel looks up at Dean with bright blue eyes on the verge of tears. Dean can not help himself and he reaches out, pulling Castiel into his side. Dean runs his hand up and down the side of Castiel’s arm and lets him cry.

“Are we interrupting?” Nev and Max make their way back over to them.

“No,” Dean smiles at them, this time a real smile. “We are good right now.”

Dean is not sure if they are good but he wants to get this over with. He wants the show gone and he wants to try and work things out with Castiel. Dean explains the situation to them and they understand. It is finally over.


	6. The End

“Hey,” Nev and Max say together as Skype connects. Both Dean and Castiel are on the other side, smiling and seeming overall happy. “Does this mean you guys are together?”

“Most definitely,” Dean smiles wide, happier than they had seen him when they were there.

“That is awesome,” Max pats Nev on the back. “Glad to see that it worked out for the both of you.”

“So what is going on in your lives now?” Nev asks both boys.

“We just started college,” Castiel answer for them. “We are dating but our main focuses right now are on school.”

“So taking it slow then,” Nev more states than askes. Castiel and Dean both nod but Nev can see it in their eyes. They are crazy about each other. From the way they touch each other with their arms and smile at each other when the other person is talking. This is definitely a success story.

“Slowish,” Dean laughs, pushing his shoulder into Castiel.

“Well we are glad that it worked out for you both,” Nev and Max wave at the screen. “We wish you both the best.”

“Bye,” Dean and Cas say simultaneously.

______

“Slowish?” Castiel raises an eyebrow at Dean when the skype call ends. “What does slowish mean?”

“It means,” Dean laughs and pushes Castiel back against the bed. “That while I am all about focusing on school and football, I am also very much about focusing on you.”

“Yeah?” Castiel asks, raising one eyebrow.

“Yeah,” Dean laughs before leaning forward and pushing his lips against Cas’.

“I love you, Dean Winchester,” Castiel breaks away from the kiss and looks Dean in the eye. 

“I love you more,” Dean responds, starting their never ending ‘no, I love you mores.”

They are sappy, they are hopelessly romantic and best of all, they are in love. What more can you ask from a Catfish episode?


End file.
